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| Jammu city has become unmanageable, divide it into two tehsils | | | RUSTAM
EARLY TIMES REPORT
JAMMU, Sept 4: The winter capital of the State, Jammu, is a huge city. It is developing at a very rapid pace because it is hub of the economic activities, as also because its location is highly strategic. It is the nerve-centre of the state. The city of Jammu is huge both in terms of its geographical area and population. It is the biggest city in the state, after the summer capital, Srinagar. Nearly 10 million tourists, including pilgrimage tourists, visit this city every year. The population of Jammu city, which is also known as the city of refugees, today should be no less than 15 lakh.
Sadly, Jammu city is a single-tehsil city. The result is that the people are facing serious problems. They are feeling inconvenient because it is just not possible for the existing arrangement to cater to the administrative and other needs of the people of this city. In fact, the existing arrangement is just not able to cope up with the work and provide a meaningful service to the population concerned. People have to wait for days together to get their work done.
So it's not surprising that the adversely affected people of the city are of the view that it should be divided forthwith into two tehsils. They feel, and for right reasons, that the need for the division of Jammu city into two tehsils is acute and their claim palpably genuine. Significantly, the Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla hails from the Jammu city. He, it can be presumed, knows the nature of the problem the people of Jammu city are facing owing to the existing administrative set-up in Jammu, as he always is seen roaming about here in this city. The age-old administrative structure in the Jammu city, in short, needs rationalization.
Even otherwise, the people of Jammu district need to be treated at par with their counterparts in Srinagar district. It needs to be underlined that the Srinagar district in Kashmir, which had a land area of 2,228 sq km and which consisted of 168 villages, was divided into two districts -- Srinagar and Ganderbal -- only recently as per the administrative order issued during the time of Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad. On the contrary, Jammu district, which had an area of 3,079 sq km and consisted of 1,054 villages, was left high and dry, nothing withstanding the creation of Samba district out it.
It needs to be underlined that Jammu district was far more superior to Srinagar district both in terms of population and land area, including the balanced area. For example, the population of Jammu district, according to the 2001 census, was 15,71,911, as against the Srinagar district's population of 11,83,493. As for the balanced area (where developmental activities could be undertaken), it was 1, 882 sq km in Jammu and 1,537 sq km in Srinagar.
But more than that, Srinagar city, which was way behind Jammu city in terms of population and area, was divided into two tehsils - Srinagar North and Srinagar South - with river Jhelum as the dividing line. On the other hand, Jammu city, through which River Tawi, also called Surya Putri, passes, was left untouched. It would be only appropriate to point out here that while Srinagar Municipal Corporation consists of 65 wards, the Jammu Municipal Corporation consists of 71 wards. More the population, more the number of wards.
Jammu city should have been divided into two tehsils at the time when Srinagar was divided into two tehsils. Why did not it happen that time only the then persons in power can explain? One can only say that the administration of the time did not do justice to the people of Jammu city. That it would divided Srinagar city into two tehsils and set up in Kashmir a couple of one-tehsil districts and that it would apply a different yardstick to the Jammu province and the capital city of the state, Jammu, should only indicate that it was interested more in creating more administrative units in Kashmir than in Jammu, where the people had been fighting for the rationalization of the administrative structure since decades and had in the process sacrificed a few invaluable lives.
It would not be out of place to mention here that the Government of Ghulam Nabi Azad had created four more districts and several tehsils in Kashmir despite the fact that there had been no such demand in the Valley. It was the people of Jammu province who had been struggling since 80s in order to persuade the authorities to implement in letter and spirit the Wazir Commission report, which had recommended three more districts (Samba, Reasi and Kishtwar) for Jammu province and only one (Bandipora) for Kashmir.
The authorities in general and Revenue Minister Raman Bhalla in particular would do well to look all these facts in the face and create more districts and more tehsils in Jammu province where accessibility is the major problem owing to the absence road network. |
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